American law is separated into a couple dozen categories. Although bodily and disability go hand-in-hand, they are actually quite different areas of the law. In fact, if a person is injured through the actions of another person, they will most likely need to hire an injury attorney or civil law attorney for the initial damages and then hire a disability attorney to secure disability benefits from the Social Security Administration.
“We usually handle cases that are complex and need a great deal of data collection as well as organizing it all,” said Maria, a disability attorney in Melbourne, Florida. She went on to say, “We also receive a great deal of cases where the applicant was denied and is now interested in an appeal. They are often confused as to why they were denied and desire legal assistance.”
The overwhelming majority of denied applications are due to improper filing or lack of evidence. This is because the applicant doesn’t understand what they are doing or got confused along the way. Having a legal team put together your case doubles your chances of being approved the first time around. It also doubles your chances of approval on appeal.
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Sometimes a law firm will have both a disability attorney and an injury attorney on staff so they can handle all issues under one roof. This makes it easier on the client as well as the attorneys. People applying for disability or suing for compensation are often distressed and are not up to the task of collecting long paper trails of medical documentation and filling out a complicated but important application.
It’s important to remember that you only get one application and one appeal using the exact same information. Upon appeal, you have a chance to build a better case and correct any errors you may have made during the initial application.
From application to approval to first payment received can take up to a year. This timeframe extends much longer if there are errors or you present a weak case. Hiring an attorney to handle any legal case is your best bet, and it isn’t even doubtful.
The SSA receives a few million applications per year and has only 50,000 employees reviewing all of them. These numbers should help you understand why it takes so long to get approved and why simple mistakes cause applications to get kicked out right away. They simply don’t have the manpower to go back and forth over a case.
Slightly under 25% of cases are approved on initial application. About the same percentage of appeals are approved as well. This number doubles to nearly 50% approval on both initial application and appeal when the services of an attorney are used. An attorney will handle your case every step of the way, even if it goes before a judge who will decide the ultimate outcome.
This is a very important part of a disabled person’s life, and every available advantage should be considered. Even if it means giving up a small portion of the disability payments over a short period of time, hiring an attorney is truly the best way to go.
